The AP Top 25 poll in college basketball was released on Monday, giving fans a chance to see whether or not their favorite teams ranked in the top 25 or had vanished from the list.
Five teams were ranked in the top 25 from the American Athletic Conference: Louisville (11), Cincinnati (15), SMU (18), Connecticut (19) and Memphis (20).
The Tigers (22-7, 11-5 AAC) should be done celebrating their win over defending national champion Louisville Cardinals (24-5, 13-3 AAC), from Saturday. Now, the Tigers have another task on their hands as they are out to get revenge on the Cincinnati Bearcats (24-5, 13-3 AAC).
"As I told our guys after the Houston game, we can't have a hangover from that game going into Louisville, same thing from Louisville game going into Cincinnati," Pastner said. "We can't have a hangover meaning we now got to focus on Cincinnati."
In the last meeting between these two teams, the Bearcats had their way with the Tigers by not allowing them to get the easy transition points that the Tigers are so used to getting.
Senior forward Justin Jackson was effective for the Bearcats on both ends of the court. He added 13 points, eight rebounds, seven rebounds, and two assists to lift his team to an 69-53 victory in front of Tiger Nation.
The Bearcats' star player Sean Kilpatrick added 18 points on 5-of-11 shooting (45.4 percent) from the field.
"I think they're (Cincinnati) one of the very best defensive teams in the country," Pastner stated to the media.